New FHA Condo Guidlines Indefinitely Delayed

I just heard word that the new FHA guidelines (Mortgagee Letters - scroll down to 9-01) are being delayed "indefinitely". I've been told the new effective date is "sometime in January or February", however no formal announcement has been made yet and there is currently no indication of when one will be given to the public. I would assume from this however that FHA is taking a more serious look at what will happen when the changes, as they stand, are enacted, and possibly, taking a second look at those changes and re-evaluating them on their merit and how they will affect the condo markets across the nation. Ha, maybe the even read my blog from earlier this month?! America, Meet the New FHA Condominium Guidelines

One would hope the FHA is getting wise to what would happen in these markets with the harsh changes they had earlier proposed.

Has anyone found further information on these cutting-edge changes?

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1292963/new-fha-condo-guidelines-delayed-

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Health | Myths, truths of Canada's universal coverage | Seattle Times Newspaper

Health | Myths, truths of Canada's universal coverage | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Hmmm

Historic rock concert to be recreated on Seattle rooftop
By KATHERINE SATHER / KING5.com Staff
KING5
updated 12:48 p.m. PT, Thurs., Jan. 29, 2009

SEATTLE – It was a chilly winter day in 1969 whenKen Mansfieldclimbed the stairs to the roof of the Apple Records building in London.

Mansfield, who was then the U.S. manager of The Beatles' Apple Records, sat against a rooftop chimney with Yoko Ono and a handful of others and watched as The Beatles gave an impromptu live performance.

That show, which took place 40 years ago Friday, would go down in history as the last time The Beatles performed live in public.

"It was a magic day," Mansfield said. "I don't think any of us realized at the time, just how historical."

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of that date, Mansfield will again battle the cold on a rooftop – this time in downtown Seattle. He's in the Emerald City to help a local Beatles cover band,Crème Tangerine, recreate the rooftop show.

The band will perform at noon Friday on the balcony of Copacabana Café in Pike Place Market. While numerous rooftop concerts are planned around the nation Friday, this will be the only one to include someone like Mansfield, who was actually present for the historic Beatles show in 1969. He says he was invited by Crème Tangerine.

"Crème Tangerine is a band who doesn't try to look like the Beatles," he said. "I like the fact that they're just very good at the music … I also feel this is going to feel more like London this time of year."

Mansfield documents his experience with the Beatles in a book called "The White Book: The Beatles, The Bands, the Biz: An Insider's Look at an Era." He says the Fab Four planned the rooftop performance to get footage for their film "Let it Be." At the time, no one realized it would be their last live show.

"We just decided to go upstairs and lock the doors downstairs and have The Beatles play live so we could get footage," he said. "Once we got up there and locked the door downstairs, there were only about a dozen of us up there including the Beatles. We all just looked at each other and went 'whoa, something's happening here.'"

The Beatles played to the delight of pedestrians and office workers, until police came to shut down the show.

"We were just moved by something that had happened, not knowing how historical this moment was going to be," Mansfield said.

Crème Tangerine has been playing together for six years. Their idea to commemorate the rooftop show has been in the works for months.

"As the years go on, The Beatles seem to get bigger and bigger," said Kevin Murphy, the band's publicist. "We just thought 40 years, we need to do something. If London's not doing it, why not Seattle?"

But it took some time to find a suitable Seattle rooftop that didn't have issues with safety or construction.

"Trying to find appropriate building rooftop was surprisingly hard to do," Murphy said. "Just two weeks ago, we were able to line up the café. It happens to be in Pike Place Market, which is a landmark around the world."

Crème Tangerine will have another special guest for their show: Alan White, the drummer from the band Yes. White was a sessions player with John Lennon years ago.

"His connection is really special, and Beatles fans know that," Murphy said.

The band will play the original rooftop concert set-list, which includes the songs "Get Back" and "Don’t Let me Down." Murphy says they'll probably even end the show the same way John Lennon did – with the words: "I hope we passed the audition."

Mansfield will take time to talk to the crowd after the show. His experience in the music industry stretches beyond his close ties with The Beatles. The Grammy Award-wining producer has worked with Willie Nelson, The Band, Waylon Jennings, the Beach Boys and David Cassidy.

He says Crème Tangerine is trying to find another white coat for him to wear during the show.

For the rooftop show in 1969, Mansfield had flown in from the United States without warm clothes. So when it came time for the performance, he ended up racing down the street in search of a shop with a heavy coat.

He grabbed the first coat he could find - a white one - and raced back to Apple Records.

"It turned out it was a rain coat, and when I got on the roof it was rubberized and froze," he said.

But the choice turned out well for him. In photos of the historic show, he's the only one in white – making it easy to pick him out.

"Those up there that day, we're like bound forever in a friendship because we shared something so special," he said. "Like two guys in a foxhole together in a war."

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28912456/

Yay! For Whole Foods doing what they should be doing in Interbay!

Whole Foods, Interbay developer settle lease disagreement

By Melissa Allison

Seattle Times business reporter

Whole Foods plans to open its Interbay store later this year, now that it has settled a legal dispute with developer TRF Pacific.

The store, in the valley between Magnolia and Queen Anne hills, will be the area's fifth Whole Foods Market. A sixth is expected to open next year in West Seattle.

Under a new lease agreement, Whole Foods will remain the shopping center's anchor tenant with a 38,000-square-foot store. The upscale grocery chain must find a sublessor for an adjacent area of roughly 20,000 square feet it had requested but no longer wants.

Peet's Coffee, Subway, Verizon Wireless and a dry cleaner will occupy a second building in the complex.

"We've been reading about layoffs every day, so this is a good sign for a business operating in our neighborhood," said King County Councilmember Larry Phillips, D-Magnolia.

TRF sued Whole Foods in September for breach of contract and damages of $67.9 million, alleging the chain terminated its lease a week before TRF was scheduled to turn over the building shell.

The lawsuit came a month after Whole Foods' corporate office in Austin, Texas, said it was scaling back new-store openings.

Whole Foods told TRF that sales projections required shrinking the store from 60,000 square feet to about 40,000, according to the lawsuit. The chain also said cash-flow problems would delay its opening from December 2008 to October or November 2009.

TRF plans to file court papers today dismissing the suit, said Doug Exworthy, managing member of TRF, which built Seattle's first Whole Foods Market at Roosevelt Square a decade ago.

"We were never not friends," Exworthy said.

Although it was "disconcerting" to learn too late that Whole Foods wanted a smaller building, he said, the parties worked out a new lease. After the long delay, Whole Foods is eager to start construction inside its store, which could take six to eight months to complete, said Northwest regional president John Clougher.

J.R. Abbott Construction will be general contractor for work inside the shell, which for now is a vast expanse of concrete and beams.

Whole Foods plans to hire 150 to 175 people for the store, including up to 50 workers in the kitchens alone, which will offer baked goods made from scratch, custom-made sandwiches, a burrito bar and a rotisserie area double the usual size, Clougher said.

Although the store will be slightly smaller than Seattle's other Whole Foods Markets, it will be larger than the average Whole Foods nationally, he said.

Exworthy said TRF will help Whole Foods find a tenant for the additional space. He and Clougher declined to name possible tenants but said the space is attractive partly because it is on busy 15th Avenue West, where 43,000 cars pass daily.

Another attraction is being near Whole Foods, now that it is sticking around.

Wishing I was asleep.

Lying here in bed, my mind racing with ideas, to-do lists, and occaisionally stopping to hear the faint and muffled dreamy snores of Hogan, lying in his bed at the foot of mine, I wonder just why is it that it seems I'm most productive when I least want to be. My mind, like a broken valve on a fire hydrant, teams with action plans, all to be subdued by daylight next morn.

Sometimes I wish I could flip the world and make morning out of night... or vice-versa. Yet I'm glad I'm one of the few that actually does have significent and detailed thought processes, ideas waiting to burst onto a broadway stage and say "here I am, complete with a curtin bow".

Then there's the other times when I just take my sleeping pills and tell my mind to just shut up.

is going to be Shelter Manager for the Red Cross shelter in Renton... be afraid... be very afraid!

is dusting off his water-wings for all the expected flooding in the Northwest!

Says he os ready for everyone's real estate referrals and is ready to rock the day with marketing!

is learning all about Ping.fm today and writing his first blog on blogger.com

Breaking into the realm of blogging

Today I finally got around to signing onto Blogger and wow, I don't know how I lived without it for sooo long. Finally I feel my life is complete! :- Okay so lame attempt at a joke but I do feel this site and blog will allow me to update local activities and events, and even log personal notes from myself. I also plan to keep it updated with fresh information from the local economy including of course... real estate!

I hope that if someone is bored to tears with their own life, and they stray across this page, they will find themselves slightly entertained, educated, or at the very least, the bordom will cease... at least for a moment.